How does a new manager get on top of the issues?

If you are new to the company or the business unit, you need to gather information and act on it quickly. It is important to truly understand:

• What’s going well?

• What isn’t going well?

• What issues and opportunities need to be addressed?

• Where are the political landmines?

• What are the challenges and opportunities frustrating the organization?

With this information and your team’s support, you can quickly get traction and move toward the success you desire. Actually, even if you were promoted from within, you need to look at this same information from the perspective of your new position. Don’t assume you know it all just because you are an insider. The new position provides access to information and insights that were not available to you as a leader in another organization or as an individual contributor.

Focus on gathering the information before you get sucked into meeting mania. This information may not come solely from your team, although they would be a key resource. Your peers, manager and other members of the management team, internal and external and external customers are all great sources of information.